Nabilla Benattia

Nabilla Leona Benattia (Arabic: نبيلة بن عطية‎), better known as Nabilla, (born February 5, 1992), is a Franco-Swiss model and reality TV personality.[2] She has appeared in L'Amour est aveugle (2009), Hollywood Girls (2012–2014), Les Anges de la télé-réalité (2012–2013) and her own TV show Allo Nabilla (2013–2014).

Nabilla Vergara
Nabilla in South Beach, January 2013
Born
Nabilla Leona Benattia

(1992-02-05) February 5, 1992
Ambilly,[1] France
Occupation
  • reality TV personality
  • model
Years active2011-present
OrganizationNRJ 12
Known forCreating a media buzz in France with her catchphrase "non, mais allô quoi"
Television
  • l'Amour est aveugle
  • Allo Nabilla : ma famille en Californie
  • les Anges de la télé-réalité
  • Hollywood Girls
Spouse(s)Thomas Vergara (2013–present)
Children1
AwardsMiss Salon de l'Auto 2011

She became known in France for her one-liner "non, mais allô quoi" on les Anges de la télé-réalité.[3] The line was subsequently used in ads from brands such as IKEA and Carrefour.[4] It gave rise to a number of parody videos viewed millions of times on YouTube, including a Downfall parody. She registered the phrase as a trademark at the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle.[5]

Career

Nabilla was first hired by a modelling agency when she was 14 years old.[6] Soon after, she was elected Miss Salon international de l'automobile de Genève 2011 while working on the Peugeot stand. At age 17, Benattia lied about her age to take part of the TF1's reality TV show l'Amour est aveugle (the French version of "love is blind"),[7] where participants meet in total darkness.[8]

Following her first appearance on TV, Benattia underwent breast enlargement surgery, which she claims was to further her career, enabling her to appear in publications such as Maxim and Playboy.[9]

During 2012, she appeared in the fourth series of les Anges de la télé-réalité, shot in Hawaii.[8] The programme, which airs on NRJ 12, follows a group of reality TV personalities for ten weeks.[8] On the show she became romantically involved with Sofiane Tadjine-Lambert, who was in Star Academy 4.[8] He wrote a song for her Dingue de toi (Nabi… Nabilla), which reached number 25 in the French music charts.[10] Following the show, she was interviewed by Jeremstar, on the show La Conciergerie.

Nabilla Benattia Cannes 2018

In early 2013, she finished filming on the fifth series in Florida.[8] For her participation in this series, Benattia purportedly earned €25,000.[11] In the fourth episode, after an argument with a participant regarding the purchasing of shampoo, Benattia uttered to the camera the words which led to the establishment of her celebrity status:[12]

"Euh, allô! non, mais allô, quoi. T'es une fille et t'as pas de shampooing ? Allô. Allô ! Je sais pas, moi, vous me recevez ? T'es une fille, t'as pas de shampooing ? C'est comme si je dis : t'es une fille, t'as pas de cheveux !" ("Er, hello! I mean, like, hello? You're a girl, you got no shampoo. Hello. Hello! I dunno, you receiving me? You're a girl, you got no shampoo? It's like I'd say: you're a girl, you got no hair".)

Nabilla's uttering caused a media buzz in France and generated many parodies, on the internet and in various media.[13] La Grosse Équipe, the production company behind les Anges, registered four trademarks in mid-March with l'Institut national de la propriété industrielle, the French intellectual property registry. These were "Allô, quoi", "Allô, t'es une fille, t'as pas de shampooing, c'est comme si je dis, t'es une fille, t'as pas de cheveux", "Allô, non mais allô quoi", and "Allô, Nabilla la vraie vie de la famille Benattia".[14] The last of these resulted in rumours discussed on Twitter that a new reality show was in the offing with her as the star.[14] In a TV interview on the talkshow Grand journal, watched by 1.8 million viewers, Benattia confirmed that there will be a reality TV show following her day-to-day.[12] La Grosse Équipe has also registered "Nabilla cherche l'amour" as a title for a TV show.[12]

A fifth trademark "Nabilla allô t'es une fille t'as pas de shampooing c' est comme si t'es une fille t'as pas de cheveux" was registered by Benattia herself.[14] The trademarks are registered across ten categories covering a wide range of products including scientific instruments, jewellery and linen but not shampoo.[14]

In April 2013, a French Wikipedia article about her was deleted after a debate resulted in the decision that she lacked encyclopedic interest, being merely the object of a "buzz" instead of proper "information";[15] this decision on the French-language Wikipedia generated some media attention[16][17][18] The page was redirected to that of Les Anges de la téléréalité.;[19] in January 2014, it was ultimately recreated and kept after another debate, which concluded that her notability had proved sufficiently durable.

On 12 November 2013, her own TV Reality show started on NRJ 12. Called Allô Nabilla, ma famille en Californie (in reference to her famous line "Non mais allô quoi"), the show follows her and her family in Los Angeles.[20] The show got mixed reviews.[21] While the premiere's ratings were disappointing,[22] the show performed ultimately well, and was renewed for three other seasons.[23] In September 2014, she became a columnist for Touche pas à mon poste !, France's most popular talk show.[24]

She is often referred as the "French Kim Kardashian" by TMZ.[25]

In April 2016, she released an autobiographical book, Trop vite (Too fast).[26]

In June 2018, conceptual artist Andy Picci unveiled a new body of work dedicated to Benattia. The exhibition at Joseph Saint Martin gallery consisted of a series of paintings by classic masters – including the Mona Lisa – on to which Picci has photoshopped Benattia's features.[27][28]

Personal life

Nabilla Benattia was born in Ambilly, France with an Algerian/Italian origin[29] near the border with Switzerland. Her father is a Frenchman of Berbers of Algerian origin and her mother Algerian and Swiss Italian.[9] She has been in a relationship with Thomas Vergara since January 2013.[30]

In July 2009, Nabilla Benattia was arrested for her part in a fraud alongside three Congolese and sentenced to six months in prison.[31] She used a stolen passport to open three bank accounts under a false identity. Meanwhile, the Congolese individuals intercepted money transfers from public letter boxes and modified the bank account details to match the accounts Benattia had set up. She subsequently withdrew money from them. The victims were slow to realise the theft because most of them were elderly people. According to the department of justice, approximately 200,000 Swiss francs were stolen.[31][32] She was caught on CCTV in a branch of UBS Bank in January 2009 and was arrested at Geneva airport in July 2009, with the passport of her cousin, and used a false identity to the police. She spent a month in La Clairière youth detention centre for her part in the crimes.[33]

On 7 November 2014, she was arrested and subsequently detained for several weeks after wounding her boyfriend Thomas Vergara in the chest with a knife during an argument.[34] After keeping a low profile for several months, she made a media comeback in April 2016, by publishing her autobiography.[35] On 19 May 2016, she was sentenced to six months in jail, but avoided returning behind bars thanks to the French system of penalty adjustments.[36] She and Thomas Vergara reconciled before the trial.[37]

In April 2019, Nabilla and her partner Thomas confirmed that they were expecting their first child, and are planning to move to Dubai once it is born.[38]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Turn Me Up Willy Denzey's music video
2008 À la Vie Éternellement Unknown role Swiss TV movie
2011 Dating in the Dark Herself Contestant, 8 episodes
2012 Les Anges 4 : Club Hawaï Herself Contestant, 55 episodes
2012 Dingue de toi Sofiane Tadjine's music video
2012 Le Mag Herself Chronicler
2012 Celebration The Game's music video
2012–14 Hollywood Girls Nabilla Klein Series regular, 106 episodes
2013 Les Anges 5 : Welcome To Florida Herself Contestant, 90 episodes
2013 Love Is What You Make Of It Maude Harcheb's music video
2013 Ocean Drive Avenue Les Anges 5's music video
2013 GirlZ Make The Girl Dance's music video
2013–14 Allô Nabilla Herself Main role, 34 episodes
2014 Les Anges 6 : Les Retrouvailles Herself
2014 It's Only TV Herself Chronicler
2016 Les Anges 8 : Pacific Dream Herself Cameo, 1 episode
2017 Orange Is the New Black Nabilla Guest
2017 Les Incroyables Aventures de Nabilla et Thomas en Australie Herself Lead role, 40 episodes
gollark: Who are you, and I would prefer a smaller one.
gollark: Can we not have a CC-ish server with a decent amount of mods *and* which actually sticks around?
gollark: Nope, it'll probably be disappearinated forever.
gollark: That's very homoiconic.
gollark: Well, I do "* hello" and this seems to be common.

References
  1. "La folle jeunesse de Nabilla". le Point. 8 May 2013.
  2. "Biographie de Nabilla". Closer Magazine.
  3. Desnos, Marie (29 April 2013). "Un jour avec les people". Paris Match. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  4. Samuel, Henry (30 April 2013). "'Gallic Kim Kardashian' banned from Wikipedia". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  5. Leroy, Jerome (15 April 2013). "Allo, Nabilla passe son brevet". Causeur.fr. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. Mercereau, Damien (3 April 2013). "Nabilla Benattia, comment était-elle à 15 ans ?". Le Figaro. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  7. "Nabilla : son (gros) mensonge sur son âge pour participer à "l'Amour est aveugle" Partagez". Closer mag. 22 May 2017.
  8. Baud-Lavigne, Marion (4 April 2013). ""Allô, allô?" De retour à Genève, Nabilla ne répond pas". Tribune de Geneve. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  9. Mercereau, Damien (25 March 2013). "Nabilla : "Je suis une business woman à la Kardashian"". Le Figaro. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  10. "Discographie Sofiane". lescharts.com. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  11. Mercereau, Damien (3 April 2013). "Les Anges 5 : Des salaires entre 10 000 et 35 000 euros". Le Figaro. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  12. "Nabilla Benattia : "Je vais avoir ma propre téléréalité"". Le Figaro. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  13. “Non mais allô quoi ?” : parodies en pagaille, L'Express, 8 March 2013
  14. Zilberstein, Johanna (11 April 2013). ""Allô" : Nabilla pourrait commercialiser des produits dérivés". Le Figaro. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  15. fr:Discussion:Nabilla Benattia/Suppression
  16. Nabilla n'est pas «un objet de savoir» pour Wikipédia, Le Figaro, 29 April 2013
  17. Nabilla censurée sur Wikipédia, Le Point, 1 May 2013
  18. Brand, Katy (1 May 2013). "Wikipedia: you don't get to decide who's interesting". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  19. Falla, Sophie (30 April 2013). "Nabilla Benattia n'est pas assez célèbre pour figurer sur Wikipédia!". RTL.be. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  20. "Allo Nabilla, Ma Famille en Californie – Nabilla Benattia – NRJ12". Nrj12.fr. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  21. Closermag.fr. "Saison 1 – Allô Nabilla : le premier épisode sévèrement critiqué sur Twitter – News" (in French). Closermag.fr. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  22. "Allo Nabilla : Audience décevante !". melty.fr. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  23. Allô Nabilla : une 5e saison en discussion chez NRJ12 ?, 24 matins, 22 August 2014.
  24. Nabilla assez convaincante en chroniqueuse, Le Matin, 25 September 2014.
  25. "Nabilla : Les Américains la comparent à Kim Kardashian ! (Vidéo)". melty.fr. 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  26. Nabilla, Laurent Ournac, Michel Drucker... Qui a vendu le plus de livres ?, Télé Loisirs, 6 July 2016
  27. Larvin, Hugo Compain, translated by Hannah. "Artist Andy Picci is questioning identity in the age of social media". Vogue English. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  28. "The Rake's progress: last week in gossip | Apollo Magazine". Apollo Magazine. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  29. "La folle jeunesse de Nabilla". le Point. 8 May 2013.
  30. "EXCLU – Thomas: "On est toujours en couple avec Nabilla ! Et ça va durer !" - Regardez" (in French). Jeanmarcmorandini.com. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  31. "Nabilla : mais si, elle a fait de la prison !". VSD. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  32. "EXCLUSIF. Nabilla a fait de la prison – Le Point". Lepoint.fr. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  33. "Un réseau d'escrocs démantelé grâce à Nabilla". Tribune de Genève. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  34. "Nabilla Benattia: French reality star held after boyfriend allegedly repeatedly stabbed". The Independent. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  35. Sept à Huit (TF1) : ce qu’il faut retenir de l’interview vérité de Nabilla, Télé 7 jours, 11 April 2016
  36. Nabilla Benattia ne retournera pas en prison, Le Point, 19 may 2016
  37. Nabilla ne retournera pas en prison : «Une mauvaise page va se tourner», Le Figaro, 19 mai 2016
  38. Match, Paris. "Exclusif - Nabilla : "J'attends un bébé de Thomas"". parismatch.com (in French). Retrieved 2019-04-15.

Further reading
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